Résumé

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Table of contents

Summary

• Hello, Justin here! I’m a UX Generalist who specializes in UX Design, UI Design, Front-End Development, and Content Writing. Among other things.
• My areas of interest include web development using Ghost CMS, making games, digital publishing, interactive fiction, and cultural criticism pieces on internet culture.
• When I’m not working you can find me playing video games or reading books!

Experiences

The TJX Companies, Inc.

• Nov. 2024 – Present

Merchandise Associate

• Engaging guests with a cheerful and helpful attitude to positively impact the customer experience and encourage repeat visits, increasing sales.
• Handling large volumes of financial transactions with attention to detail and integrity.
• Promoting credit and rewards program by informing customers of benefits to meet sales goals.
• Assisting with store closings by recovering merchandise.

Final Arc

• Overall: May 2024 – Present

Web Content Writer

• Aug. 2024 - Present
• Writing engaging articles for publication by utilizing creative writing skills and SEO best practices.
• Marketing content through various social media sites to increase impressions and click-through-rates.

UX Generalist (UX Designer, UI Designer, Front-End Developer)

• May – Sept. 2024
• Designed responsive wireframes to help visualize the first iteration of the website.
• Developed alpha site in Ghost CMS using Handlebars JS, HTML5, CSS3.

Freelance Writing

• July 2023 – Present

Content Writer

• Ideating ideas, concepts, and topics to write engaging content.
• Pitching articles to publications and editors by emphasizing potential for capturing user attention.
• Outlining content before drafting to ensure coherence and logical consistency of piece.
• Utilizing SEO best practices to achieve search ranking performance for articles.
• Rapidly researching topics, building rapport with communities, and interviewing subject matter experts.
• Covering community events and other news to spread awareness of important cultural developments.
• Generating marketing assets as well as including appropriate captions and alt text.
• Adhering to editorial style guides for voice, tone, branding, etc.
• Creating editorial style guides when none are available because I’m a team-player like that.

DIA Design Guild LLC

• Overall: July 2021 – Present

User Experience Designer

• July 2021 – Present
• Leading and working with senior experts and junior apprentices on researching, designing, and developing solutions for clients’ business needs.

Research

• Investigating problems and related factors by conducting UX audits and assessments.
• Creating product ecosystem and journey maps.
• Interviewing and testing designs with target users and stakeholders.
• Mapping content structure and relationships.
• Recommending ideal tech stacks to determine core user needs and design requirements.

Design

• Iterating upon possible solutions that incorporate problems, needs, and requirements found during research phase.
• Drafting layouts based on content structures in low-fidelity wireframes.
• Visualizing the intended user experience using high-fidelity mockups.
• Rapidly prototyping the final deliverable.

Development

• Implementing designs into fully interactive experiences by coding the designs in HTML5 and CSS3 on clients’ chosen platform.
• Assembling designs in tools such as Webflow.
• Delivering tangible solutions to clients that address related problems and needs.

Content

• Contributing content for monthly newsletter updates.
• Drafting, editing, and publishing blog posts and articles.
• Engaging with subscribers and maintain DIA’s online presence.

Project Manager, Game Club

• Oct. 2021 – Present
• Founder and head of the DIA Game Club, a place for discussing games. Formerly known as the DIA Game Studio.
• Encouraging an accessible game making philosophy by running the DIA Game Jam format to help busy folks prototype small games together using a different tool each month.
• Keeping subscribers updated on the club’s activities by publishing blog posts summarizing game jam activities and sharing them in the monthly newsletter updates.

Figma Tutoring (Remote)

• Apr. – Aug. 2021

Instructor

• Independently taught UX professionals how to use Figma for UI Design. (Not affiliated with Figma, Inc.)
• Created custom lesson plans to address individual student needs.
• Explained and demonstrated various tools and example workflows.
• Answered questions regarding improving efficiency.
• Clarified conflicting mental models.

Result

• Students gained increased confidence and Figma proficiency.

Portfolio Redesign

• Jan. 2021 – Present

User Experience Generalist (UX Designer, UI Designer, Front-End Dev.)

• Iteratively improving my portfolio site one UI component at a time.
• Rebuilding, redesigning, and rebranding website to showcase my updated portfolio.
• Learned HTML5 and CSS3 to implement a responsive and appealing website.
• Writing and editing new content for case studies to precisely and concisely demonstrate work experience.

Result

• Responsive online portfolio and foundation for learning further front-end development.

World IA Day Los Angeles Org

• Jan. – Mar. 2022

Lead Organizer

• Took on a last minute request to spearhead organizing WIAD s Los Angeles sessions.
• Coordinated with sponsors and speakers to efficiently arrange preparations and align expectations, recruited volunteers to assist with running the event smoothly, managed the marketing and attendant teams by onboarding team members and directing them on various tasks, built and tracked forms for speaker info, ticket sales, etc.
• Hosted event using public speaking skills to introduce speakers and topics and moderate questions.

Result

• Ensured WIAD 22 LA ran smoothly to encourage important discussions on accessibility and inclusion in information architecture and user experience.
• Secured financial donations from sponsors to fund future WIAD LA events, maintained presence of Los Angeles location s activity to maintain budget from previous years.
• Forged new partnerships with WIAD to bolster future sessions.

Altum Inc. (Remote)

• Nov. 2019 – Oct. 2020

User Experience Generalist (UX Designer, UI Designer, UX Researcher)

• Improved product’s user experience with limited resources and tight deadlines by taking on multiple roles as a UX generalist.

Project management

• Worked with a cross-functional Agile team to determine product requirements.
• Planned design tasks.

Research

• Did market research via competitor analysis and cross-industry design analysis.
• Mapped out user flows.
• Conducted user interviews for refined need finding.
• Ran usability tests.

Design

• Designed wireframes and mockups.
• Implemented interactive prototypes in Figma.
• Established foundation for a design system.
• Generated graphical assets.

Result

• Grew AI product from an MVP-state to a full-fledged SaaS product.

Skills

Disciplines

• UX Design
• UI Design
• UX Research

Design Methods

• Wireframe
• Interactive prototype
• Low/high fidelity mock-ups

Design Tools

• Figm•a
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Microsoft Office

Usability Testing

• Usability studies
• User surveys
• User interviews

Education

University of California at San Diego

• Graduated 2019
• B.S. in Cognitive Science — HCI

Personal

DIA Design Guild

• Jan. 2022 – Present
• Mentor, Community Organizer

San Gabriel Valley User Experience

• Sep. 2019 – Present
• Community Organizer